Careers

To round out our work developing program-level learning outcomes, the group looked at data on the career journeys of graduates from Fine/Studio Art programs. The data are from three scales (National, Provincial, Queen’s) and collectively indicate that graduates of Fine Art programs embark on diverse career paths.

Canada

At the National scale, 39% of graduates of Fine/Studio Arts programs reported that their jobs were closely related to their field of study and 41% reported that their jobs were not related.

Infographic shows that 39% were closely related to their studies, where as 20% where somewhat related, and 41% where not related.

Data from the 2018 National Graduates Survey.

The most common jobs were:

  • Retail salespersons
  • Graphic designers and illustrators
  • Painters, sculptors and other visual artists
  • Food and beverage servers
  • Retail and wholesale trade managers
  • Occupations in advertising, marketing and public relations
  • Administrative officers
  • Elementary school and kindergarten teachers
  • Other customer and information services representatives
  • Administrative assistants

Ontario

At the Provincial level, most graduates in the category of “Arts and Communications” had jobs in the fields of 

  • Art, culture, recreation and sport
  • Sales and service
  • Business, finance and administrative
  • Management
  • Teachers and professors
Graph provides details on what Arts and communications graduates end up doing in their occupation. Most (31%) have occupations in Art, culture, recreation and sport, while 28% and 15% end up in sales and services, and in business, finance and administrative respectively. There are many other less common occupations.

Data from the 2011 Canadian Household Survey.

Queen’s University

Looking at the data from graduates from the BFA program at Queen’s, we see a similar pattern of students embarking on diverse careers. The data below comes from LinkedIn profiles.

What jobs do graduates have?

  • Arts and Design (25%)
  • Education (21%)
  • Business Development (13%)
  • Media and Communication (7%)
  • Operations (7%)
  • Community and Social Services (4%)
  • Marketing (4%)
  • Sales (3%)
  • Information Technology (3%)
  • Research (3%)
  • Administrative (2%)
  • Healthcare Services (2%)
  • Customer Success and Support (2%)
  • Human Resources (2%)
  • Program and Project Management (1%)